Ukrainian President signs bill to launch broadcasting to separatist-held territories of Donbas

Wednesday, January 10, 2018 7:00:00 PM

President Petro Poroshenko has signed a bill to issue temporary permits for broadcasting in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) zone and Ukrainian border regions, according to the President’s website.

On his Facebook page, Poroshenko wrote that the bill will allow broadcasting to be developed three times faster. Until now, according to the President, the development of broadcasting for the territory of the Crimea took 9-12 months due to the procedural complexity of miscalculation, the coordination of radio frequencies, and the granting of licenses.

Poroshenko added that since the beginning of the military aggression, 25 Ukrainian TV channels and radio stations have been broadcast to the Donbas. In particular, the military radio station Army FM broadcasts at 17 frequencies.

"In the coming months, new Ukrainian TV channels and radio stations will start broadcasting to the occupied Crimea, [and] temporarily uncontrolled Donetsk and Luhansk, on a regular basis," he noted.The bill introduces a mechanism for accelerated issuance of temporary permits for television and radio broadcasting in the territories most vulnerable to external negative information impact, and also specifies special conditions for the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting in separate administrative-territorial units.